Lately it seems as though bloggers are suffering from a mentality of “I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine,” in order to peek their way into the Top Favorited Blogs on Technorati. In other words, I’ll favorite your blog if you favorite mine.
In order to be included on Technorati’s Top Favorite Blogs, you need to get other people to go and favorite your blog. Bloggers are setting up massive Technorati Favorite Exchanges all over so that they’re able to break into the list of the Top 100. First, the blogger will go and favorite a list of blogs (I’ll scratch your back). In return, the blogs that they’ve favorited will favorite theirs (You scratch mine).
We’ve gotten several emails from other bloggers wanting to do this, however it’s never been something we’ve considered. I’m sure the creators of Technorati didn’t exactly have a massive favorites exchange in mind as the drive behind the Top Favorited Blogs feature. Afterall, it’s gaming, isn’t it?
So why is it that bloggers are wanting to game Technorati? Do they think they’ll get a massive increase in traffic, or it will help get advertisers interested in their blog? Do they just want a temporary ego boost after they’re included on the “the list?” Darren Rowse over at ProBlogger just wrote about this topic. I’ve always respected Darren and his opinion, and so I was interested in what he had to say, particularly because he’s ranked #3 on Technorati, and he did this on his own without any of the gaming techniques going on around the web.
In a nut shell, he doesn’t think that it does much of anything for bloggers in terms of traffic, or an increased profile. As far as an ego boost? He calls this empty achievement. And I couldn’t agree more with him when he says that’s it’s a little sad that bloggers are putting so much energy into an exchange like this, all for a Technorati Rank. That time could be better spent in so many other ways.
So then the next question– does Technorati care? Darren hasn’t gotten a comment from them, but I’d hope they’d at least care a little. Now the Most Favorited List serves little to no purpose at all, which is unfortunate.
It didn’t serve any purpose to start with.
I agree. I hardly even visit Technorati because I think Google’s Blogsearch is much faster at finding the information I’m looking for.
You asked
Why don’t you ask the bloggers why they did it? Or maybe read their blogs?
I actually did read around while writing this article and posed it more as a question for the bloggers that come here and read this (conversation starter). Generally, I found those starting the link exchanges such [doshdosh.com] (which is a link exchange “experiment”),word it as something that will bring bloggers more readers and something that will provide “social proof.” Proof as in it proves a blogs popularity. The example that I linked to above sounded like a sales pitch to me when I read it, and so I think some bloggers are in it thinking that the benefits will be so great it’ll be worth the wasted time. I think other bloggers are in it for the whole ego thing and being part of a list.
I think you’ll find my post on this Technorati nonsense interesting:
[dave-lucas.blogspot.com]